


Absolution

by jackandsamforever



Category: The Orville (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Set after Identity Part II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-07 21:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17968502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackandsamforever/pseuds/jackandsamforever
Summary: The Finn family is struggling after Isaac’s betrayal. How do they get past it and forgive him?Spoilers for Identity Part 2





	Absolution

“Moooom, I don’t want Ensign Brackett to be my teacher anymore. I want Isaac.”

Claire sighed and stood up from the table, picking up her mostly untouched dinner and discarding it in the food simulator. She was tired of having this argument with her youngest son, but he had been relentless since the Orville had allowed Isaac to return over a month ago.

She turned and faced him with a stern look, crossing her arms over her chest. “Ty, we’re not going to keep arguing about this. I’ve told you ”no” every day this week, and I’m not going to say it again. Stop asking.”

“But mom-“ 

“Ty, shut up. Isaac never cared about us anyway. He doesn’t feel anything, he’s a robot.” Claire glanced over at a sullen Marcus, who had yet to touch his dinner either. 

Things were rough in the Finn household, and it seemed like time was only making things worse, not better. Claire had lost weight, Ty was refusing to even touch his piano unless she threatened him with taking away his simulator time, and Marcus’ grades were beginning to slip. Something had to give.

And soon.

“Yes he did! You’re a liar!” Ty stood up and ran from the room as tears streamed down his small face. She knew he was struggling the most with what had happened, but he refused to talk about anything beyond the fact that he missed Isaac.

She didn’t have the energy to even scold Marcus for antagonizing his brother. “Marcus, go do your homework. Your teacher told me today that you haven’t turned any in for weeks. That’s not acceptable, and you know that.”

She watched him sigh quietly, but he didn’t argue like she expected. He just stood and walked slowly out of the room with slumped shoulders and a frown on his face.

Claire closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. She was so damn tired. 

Tired of fighting with her sons.

Tired of wondering if Isaac had ever even cared about them, or if it had all just been a lie.

Tired of missing him so much that it physically hurt to breathe sometimes, and knowing he couldn’t (and would never) feel the same.

Sleep was her only refuge these days; if she managed to actually fall asleep. It was getting to the point where she was medicating herself just so she could escape reality for a little while. 

Her life was a spiraling mess, and she didn’t know how to fix it, or if she even could.

Even though it was still relatively early in the evening, she headed towards her bedroom slowly, with little desire to do much besides fall into bed and sleep for days.

As she crossed the front room, her door chimed, startling her out of her ever darkening thoughts. Figuring it was probably just one of Marcus’ friends, she mumbled, “open”, and attempted to re-arrange her features into something that wouldn’t scare them off.

She stared, shocked into silence at who was on the other side of the sliding door. 

“Hello, Doctor.”

She tried to say something, anything, but nothing came out. He hadn’t come to her quarters one time in the last four weeks, hadn’t talked to her beyond discussing their duties, hadn’t indicated that he was even interested in repairing their friendship or relationship… and her brain was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he was standing there, waiting for her to respond with a slight tilt of his head.

Before she could formulate a response, a blur in the shape of her son flew past her and rammed straight into the Android. 

“Isaac! I missed you so much! I knew you’d come back.” His voice was muffled because his face was pressed into Isaac’s mid-section, but she could practically feel his excitement.

Isaac stood there silently for a moment, but eventually placed a hand on Ty’s shoulder. ”It is good to see you as well, Ty. However, I came here to discuss something with your mother and nothing else.”

Ty dropped his arms from around the Android and looked up at him sadly. Claire couldn’t take it anymore and finally found her voice. Her tone sharper than she intended, “What do you want, Isaac?”

“May I please come in?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling like she needed to shield her heart further from what he had come to say.

“I guess.”

She took a step back so he could come inside, then watched as the door slid closed behind him. She found herself holding her breath as she waited for him to tell her why he was standing in her quarters, unannounced.

She pursed her lips, trying to keep from saying anything as he continued to stand there, studying her. 

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke. “Doctor, I would like to resume teaching Ty his piano lessons.”

She sucked in a breath as Ty yelled, “Yes! Please, mom. Please, please, please, please-”

Claire held up a hand, “Ty, be quiet for a second.”  
He quieted almost immediately, but she could tell he was bursting to continue to beg her for permission.

“Why?” The question came out strained, her voice cracking with emotion.

Isaac once again tilted his head, as if he was confused by the question. “I find myself…wanting…to resume our previous routine. My neural pathways have not changed, I feel compelled to come here every night for his lessons even though I have not been teaching him for 745.2 cycles.”

She tried not to smile, but a little one still managed to sneak through. “So you miss him, is that it?”

He gestured to himself with a hand, “In so much as my programming allows…..yes.”

It was a start..and that was all she had been wishing for. If they could start over, go back to basics and just become friends again, then maybe eventually she could get over the gnawing hurt that still surrounded her heart.

Maybe they could become “more” once again. 

Someday. 

The possibility of that would have to be enough for her at the moment.

Claire reached out a hand for him to shake. He stared at it for a few seconds before taking it gently, sudden memories of all his touches pushing themselves to the forefront of her mind.

She forced them away (those thoughts were for another time), and smiled, “You’ve got yourself a deal, Isaac.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Orville fic, and I haven’t written anything in months, but Claire/Isaac compelled me to write again. If people are interested, I would probably write more for this fic. Please let me know what you think, thanks for reading!


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